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A-List Landmarks:
NYC: Statue of Liberty, Skyline (including bridges)
San Francisco: Golden Gate Bridge
St. Louis: Gateway Arch
B-List Landmarks
LA: Hollywood Sign
South Dakota: Mount Rushmore
Seattle: Space Needle
Cape Canaveral Florida: VAB
NYC: Worlds Fair Unisphere
Anaheim/LA: Disney Castle
Orlando: Disney Castle
Chicago: Sears (Willis)Tower, Water Tower
Yeah, I've seen that before, but not sure where it is
Pittsburgh: Point State Park Fountain, PPG Building
Boston: Citgo Sign, Fenway Park
Philadelphia: Boat House Row, City Hall
Tampa: Sunshine Skyway Bridge
San Diego: Coronado Bridge
Tampa: Sunshine Skyway Bridge
Dallas (Arlington): Cowboys Stadium
I think most people polled would know where the Philadelphia Art Museum is. You'd get a lot of "Um... Rocky... the stairs, I pity da fool... PHILADELPHIA!" but I think if you polled average people, you'd get recognition comparable to the Gateway Arch or Golden Gate Bridge.
In the Houston area: Moody Gardens Pyramids, Battleship Texas, any of the Spacecraft at Johnson Space Center, Transco Tower, or perhaps even the Kemah Boardwalk & Grand 1894 Opera House (from the inside) could all work as Houston area landmarks. Just again, not well known both to the outside world & to Houstonians it seems. Probably best to rate them as forgotten about, Houstonians couldn't give two looks in regards to them- and if they cant, neither can the rest of the world.
Happy new years to all!
Last edited by Trafalgar Law; 01-01-2013 at 03:28 AM..
I'm surprised some people have not heard of Atlanta's Centennial Park. That was built during the 1996 Olympics when they were held in the city.
Columbus, Ohio and Cincinnati also don't really have major landmarks. Indianapolis has the speedway but for people who don't watch the sport they might not recognize it. I also don't even know what the Milwaukee skyline looks like. As for Buffalo I'm not sure Niagara Falls can count as being in Buffalo.
When an average person from Ohio or Maine that has never been to California sees the Golden Gate Bridge, they immediately know where that is. It is the same thing with the arch in STL or the Empire State Building. That is the point of this thread. I would bet money that if you gathered 20 average people who have never been to Texas, and showed them a picture of the Astrodome, one maybe two would know it is the Astrodome for sure without guessing.
Sorry, in a thread about instantly recognizable landmarks like the OP posted, the Astrodome doesn't cut it. Not even close. That is like calling new Busch Stadium in St. Louis a world-famous landmark because it has bricks and arches; you know, like all those other stadiums with bricks and arches.
I totally agree with you, not to sound like an arse, but other than NYC, LA, SF, Seattle, DC, Las Vegas and St. Louis and possibly Chicago I think most people would have a hard time identifying other cities landmarks
You will find the Astrodome listed in that article. At the time that it was built, is was an architectural breakthrough, an American cultural phenomenon, and it remains an icon of the pro-sports world. Anyone who says otherwise simply has no idea what they're talking about.
If you weren't alive in the 70s, then ask your parents about the Astrodome, children.
The West Baden Springs hotel in Indiana was also on that list, and so your point is
In the Houston area: Moody Gardens Pyramids, Battleship Texas, any of the Spacecraft at Johnson Space Center, Transco Tower, or perhaps even the Kemah Boardwalk & Grand 1894 Opera House (from the inside) could all work as Houston area landmarks. Just again, not well known both to the outside world& to Houstonians it seems. Probably best to rate them as forgotten about, Houstonians couldn't give two looks in regards to them- and if they cant, neither can the rest of the world.
Happy new years to all!
If you KNOW it's not known to the outside world, then why would Houstonians name them off? BTW, people here have named the Johnson Space Center several times already.
Look, I know a lot of people on this board thinks is just another old stadium, but compared to all those landmarks you just named besides the Space Center (and maybe Trancso, which is now and has BEEN "Williams Tower"), the Astrodome has historical significance that impacted the world of sports in and outside the United States, both good and bad.
If you think so, fine. I'm tired of arguing. But I'M not discounting it.
Of course I can name off many places in those cities, but if you take a group of random people of all ages and locations - people tend to forget about how ignorant (although it's not really ignorance, they just don't care) people are of things in other cities.
People are listing things like the Astrodome (this one confuses me the most, its so random), the Dallas skyline, that monument in Indianapolis, the space center, the park in Atlanta. They're all great things and no one is trying to knock them, but your average teenager, old person or working mother in Kansas probably would have no idea what these are or be able to instantly name off the city they're in. People in Texas and Indiana certainly would, just like I would call the Iowa State Capitol a landmark or the Field Museum in Chicago - but no one else thousands of miles away cares. It's not like the Golden Gate bridge or the Statue of Liberty.
There are only a fairly small handfull of true landmarks in cities in our country that most Americans would know. If you're going worldwide, then it's probably a very small number.
I'm surprised some people have not heard of Atlanta's Centennial Park. That was built during the 1996 Olympics when they were held in the city.
Columbus, Ohio and Cincinnati also don't really have major landmarks. Indianapolis has the speedway but for people who don't watch the sport they might not recognize it. I also don't even know what the Milwaukee skyline looks like. As for Buffalo I'm not sure Niagara Falls can count as being in Buffalo.
Cincinnati has Fountain square, Union Terminal, John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge and up northeast the Eiffel tower.
Last edited by unusualfire; 01-01-2013 at 01:44 PM..
Wouldn't the Zakim bridge be a landmark for Boston?
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